Improved Communication

Communication is the key to many aspects of life. Whether building a friendship or building a professional partnership, your ability to communicate can make or break your relationship efforts.

There are many reasons why people suffer from communication failure, including anxiety, depression, stress, and fear. For many, communication is an underdeveloped skill and one we often take for granted.

At the Cognitive & Interpersonal Therapy Centre, we work with people across Ontario to improve communication and interpersonal skills. By working with one of our therapists on your communication skills, you can improve self-esteem, confidence, public speaking skills, along with personal and business relationships.

Communication Styles and What They Say About You

There are many ways to communicate, and sometimes situations of discrepancy and argument arise simply because communication is misunderstood.

Some of the communication factors which may impact the delivery of your message include:

Eye contact
Body language
Tone of voice
Phrasing
Jargon
Facial expression
Hand gestures

Humans communicate with their entire beings. Despite the exponential growth within the virtual chat industry, face to face communication is still a daily necessity for most Canadians. When you speak to somebody in person, you communicate with your voice, the words you choose, the expression on your face, your hands and body’s movement — whether or not you look your listener in the eye. Even changing the inflection in a word or phrase can send an entirely different message during a conversation.

As your listener appraises your meaning, he or she may find your conversation style to be assertive, aggressive, or passive. In relaxed day-to-day conversation, passive language and tone may pass, but assertive tone and language are best during any professional discussion. An aggressive conversation style could come off as angry, domineering, or offensive.

How can you improve your communication?

Improved communication is about learning to actively listen, engage, and focus on your interpersonal relationships. Whereas communication issues can lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretation of others, whether in personal or professional relationships.

It can be helpful to work one-on-one with one of our interpersonal psychotherapists to explore why communication issues occur for you while working through any difficulties resulting from communication issues.

Develop communication skills to better express yourself, manage stressful conversations, and find your voice. These effective communication skills include:

Becoming an engaged listener: This includes focusing on the person speaking, avoiding interrupting the speaker, showing interest in what is being said, setting aside any judgement and providing feedback.
Learning to pay attention to nonverbal signals: To improve your nonverbal communication skills, you must be aware of individual differences, look out for nonverbal cues. In terms of improving how you deliver nonverbal communication, consider using nonverbal signals that match the words you are using, adjust your nonverbal cues based on the context and avoid using any negative body language.
Minimizing stress: It’s important to remain calm under pressure. If you find yourself in tense or stressful situations, take a moment to recognize this and calm down. Consider using stalling techniques, pause to collect your thoughts, deliver your words clearly, finish with a summary and then stop.
Asserting yourself: If you’re struggling to assert yourself, remember that you must value yourself and your options, as they are important. Know your needs and wants, express any negative thoughts in a positive way, accept good or bad feedback positively and learn to say “no.”

Working Through Personal Issues with Improved Communication

Being part of a couple can be extremely rewarding. However, it also has its difficulties. Evaluating your relationship and finding weaknesses that cause communication barriers helps improve conversation, understanding one another, and increasing feelings of romance.

Over time, the initial spark in a romantic relationship can fizzle out or become dull. This is a normal part of the comfort factor which comes along with a long-term relationship. When that comfort level causes us to take our partner for granted or make assumptions about our partner’s understanding of our relationship, it can cause problems.

Couples who work together to determine communication areas that need improvement can utilize interpersonal psychotherapy to develop stronger, more transparent communication. The skills you learn from IPT will carry forward throughout your relationship and may even help you improve other relationships as well.

The Advantage of Improved Communication for Families

For some families, communication breakdowns cause problems, including arguing, distance, and even separation. If these problems persist, they can have lasting effects on your relationships with family members.

Working with an interpersonal psychotherapist allows you to investigate these communication issues and improve your relationship by finding strategies to converse and interact without chaos. These skills can ultimately help you improve your communication with your family.

Improved communication can help families for many reasons and in a number of situations, including:

Separation or divorce
Remarriage
New children
Adoption
Family dispute

It’s essential to work together to improve communication to strengthen the relationship of your family.

Improved Communication for Business

You may find that your communication skills need improvement in other situations, such as in business settings. If you struggle with public speaking or being assertive in work meetings, improved communication can improve your conversation skills, confidence, and delivery.

Communicating in business is very different from communicating at home. The relaxed atmosphere of chit chat is absent, which causes some Ontarians to feel emotions of stress and panic. Fortunately, improved communication through the skills you learn with interpersonal psychotherapy can help you better understand, navigate, and overcome these sensations to be an effective communicator in the office.

Improved communication in the workplace can help you:

Establish a rapport with colleagues and clients
Build trust
Increase transparency
Avoid quick assumptions
Understand strengths and weaknesses
Inform and inspire

Contact the Cognitive & Interpersonal Therapy Centre to Learn More

The skills you learn in interpersonal psychotherapy will help you throughout many aspects of life, including improving your communication skills.

Being aware of how you communicate to your partner, family or business associates allows you to alter your emotions and, in turn, your physical self during a conversation.

If you are interested in learning more improved communication, we invite you to contact us at the Cognitive & Interpersonal Therapy Centre. Call 1-416-570-5050 today.